Fort Armstrong (Illinois) facts for kids
Fort Armstrong was an important military fort built by the United States Army between 1816 and 1836. It was one of many forts built to protect the western frontier after the War of 1812. The fort was located on Rock Island in the Mississippi River, near where the Quad Cities are today in Illinois and Iowa.
Fort Armstrong was built from stone and timber. It was a large square fort, about 300 feet on each side. It had three big blockhouses, which were strong defensive buildings, at its corners. The fort was started in May 1816 and finished the next year. It usually had about two companies of U.S. Army soldiers stationed there. The fort was a key military base during the Black Hawk War in 1832. After this war, the area became more peaceful, and the U.S. Army stopped using Fort Armstrong in 1836.
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What Was Fort Armstrong For?
Fort Armstrong served several important purposes for the United States:
- Military Base: It was a main base for the U.S. Army in the region.
- Indian Agent Headquarters: It was where the Indian Agent worked. This person was a link between the U.S. government and local Native American tribes like the Sauk and Meskwaki.
- Interpreter Services: An interpreter was stationed at the fort. They helped people from different cultures understand each other.
- Trade Center: The fort was a busy place for trade between settlers, soldiers, and Native Americans.
- Regional Hospital: The U.S. Army surgeon at the fort also acted as a doctor for the whole area.
Rock Island Before the Fort
Before Fort Armstrong was built, Rock Island was a special place. In 1805, President Thomas Jefferson sent explorers like Lieutenant Zebulon Pike to find good spots for new forts. Pike thought Rock Island was perfect. In 1809, Congress agreed and set the island aside for military use.
The Sauk tribe considered the island very sacred. Their leader, Black Hawk, wrote about it:
This [island] was the best one on the Mississippi, and had long been the resort of our young people during the summer. It was our garden, like the white people have near their big villages, which supplied us with strawberries, blackberries, gooseberries, plums, apples and nuts of different kinds. Being situated at the foot of the rapids, its waters supplied us with the finest fish. In my early life I spent many happy days on this island. A good spirit had charge of it, which lived in a cave in the rocks immediately under the place where the fort now stands. This guardian spirit has often been seen by our people. It was white, with large wings like a swan's, but ten times larger. We were particular not to make much noise in that part of the island which it inhabited, for fear of disturbing it. But the noise at the fort has since driven it away, and no doubt a bad spirit has taken its place.
Building Fort Armstrong
Fort Armstrong was the second U.S. fort built between St. Louis and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. The U.S. wanted to show its power in the area. They hoped to stop French and English Canadian traders from moving into the territory. After losing some forts in the War of 1812, the U.S. Army wanted a stronger presence on the Mississippi frontier.
The fort also aimed to protect American settlers and help control or move the Sauk tribe. The Sauk were not happy about the fort being built. Black Hawk wrote that they were "very sorry" about it.
On May 10, 1816, soldiers arrived to start building Fort Armstrong. It was named after John Armstrong, who was the Secretary of War at the time. About 600 soldiers and 150 workers built the fort. Once it was finished, fewer than 200 soldiers stayed there. By 1824, the number of soldiers was less than 100. From 1840 to 1845, the fort was used as a place to store military supplies.
One of the fort's three buildings was destroyed by fire in 1855. The other two buildings were later taken down to make way for the new Rock Island Arsenal.
The Black Hawk War (1832)
The Black Hawk War took place from May to September 1832. It was named after the Sauk Chief Black Hawk. Tensions had been growing between Native Americans and the United States as the U.S. expanded its territory.
To avoid future conflict, the U.S. government signed the Treaty of St. Louis in 1804. In this treaty, five Sauk and Fox chiefs agreed to sell Illinois lands to the U.S. and receive new lands in Iowa. However, Black Hawk and many others were unhappy with this treaty. They did not trust the chiefs who signed it. Black Hawk gathered other Sauk and Fox people and returned to Illinois. There, they began raiding settlements and farms.
Cholera Epidemic During the War
During the Black Hawk War, General Winfield Scott led 1000 troops to Fort Armstrong. They were coming to help the soldiers and local volunteers already there. However, General Scott's army had caught Asiatic cholera before leaving New York. By the time they reached Rock Island, only 220 soldiers were still alive.
General Scott's troops likely brought the highly contagious disease with them. Soon after they arrived, a local cholera outbreak happened among both white settlers and Native Americans around Fort Armstrong. Cholera germs often spread through contaminated water due to poor sanitation. Within eight days, 189 people died and were buried on the island.
Ending the Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War officially ended on September 21, 1832, with a treaty signed at Fort Armstrong. The defeated Sauk and Fox tribes agreed to give up their lands east of the Mississippi River to the U.S.
Black Hawk, two of his sons, and other warriors were taken as prisoners to the fort after their capture. They spent the winter at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis. After that, the Army took them on a tour of cities in the eastern U.S. The goal was to show them how powerful and wealthy white civilization was. The Native American leaders met President Andrew Jackson. They became very famous among the white population, who often saw them as "noble savages" at that time.
After a short time in prison at Fortress Monroe in Virginia, the Sauk and Fox warriors were allowed to return to Iowa. They lived on a small reservation in Iowa, which was given to them by the Treaty of Fort Armstrong. Black Hawk died there in 1838.
